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Winch - repair or replace


Anderzander

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In my Td5 thread I've put a few pictures up of the state my winch is in now I've started taking it to bits. It's a Warn M8000.

It looked ok from the outside - with everything working except the freespool. On stripping it down the motor looks close to its end, everything had seized, and one of the end plates has some corrosion.

Now it's all in bits I was hoping it's become really clear wether it was viable to repair or not - but I'm not sure.

The gears are in great condition - probably hardly used. The clutch can be brought back. It'll need new tie rods, blasting and painting, servicing and a new motor. So I reckon £200 plus

The only thing I can't fix is that the motor will not sit / seal fully on the end plate where it's corroded away. It's something I think could be sealed with a neat bead of silicone though.

A Tds is going to be £450 plus ? More than I can afford - Neil suggested a second hand winch and obviously there are super cheap new ones on ebay..... but I imagine the cheap new ones aren't going to be of much quality and a 2nd hand one may have a hidden grotty interior just like this one ?

So when I think of getting rid of this one - I keep thinking 'well it works' - then when I think of spending the money on it I'm think 'am I chucking money into a pigs ear here'....

Would appreciate anyone's thought to help clarify mine ?

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Before you consider replacements I'd use a bit of elbow grease - you may be surprised of the results. I've resurrected a few starter motors that looked in similar condition.

What I've done in the past is a combination of first clearing off as much gunk as I could with a pressure washer or hose pipe. Then try it out a bit and whilst doing so try and rub off more gunk. Once that was done I donned a pair of thick rubber gloves (Marigolds are ok but may not survive afterwards) and dunk the entire thing in a container of petrol and use kitchen towel and brushes to clean everything up.

For the electrical contacts etc then some fine emery paper works wonders at cleaning up the contact areas.

Nothing from your photos looks like it's not recoverable without a little bit of work - electric winches are amazingly simple devices and if you're considering a replacement anyway then what do you have to lose apart from some time, a can of petrol (and perhaps some skin...)

If you are after a "cheap" replacement I used and abused and left it out in the rain a Champion winch (the one I sold to Mo on the forum laning trip in the Lakes) that was a couple of hundred and it never let me down. It wasn't the quickest but always worked despite never being looked after properly.

Regards

Ed

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Thanks both. I've pretty much finished getting it to bits and I think its worth fixing.

There is some corrosion on the clutch - but a bit of work with emery is paying dividends. The gears have been in my ultrasonic cleaner and are fine:

BAA56158-88E6-4B20-951E-E01E16433DC4.jpg

The motor was working so maybe if I get the right torx bit I could pull it to bits and rejuvenate.

I have though seen a new take off bow-motor for sale - how does that compare to the standard warn motor ?

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I've also spent some time with a rotary wire brush and a fine file - and the motor end casing is workable with.

The hex shaft is stuck in the drum - but I guess I can work around that and rebuild it with it there. The brake seemed ok - so I'm thinking leave that alone bar washing out with brake cleaner.

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Thanks both. I've pretty much finished getting it to bits and I think its worth fixing.

There is some corrosion on the clutch - but a bit of work with emery is paying dividends. The gears have been in my ultrasonic cleaner and are fine:

BAA56158-88E6-4B20-951E-E01E16433DC4.jpg

The motor was working so maybe if I get the right torx bit I could pull it to bits and rejuvenate.

I have though seen a new take off bow-motor for sale - how does that compare to the standard warn motor ?

Those gears look sooo much better than my old M8000 I rebuilt and used for many years.

I'm sure this will clean up perfectly well and become a reliable tool.

Clean up the motor and give it a try. If no luck, then maybe fit a Bow 1.

The best thing you can do is bin the four individual solenoids and buy an Albright style unit. They tolerate the damp far better.

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That's in line with Idris' suggestion - not something I'd considered.

What makes me hesitate is if it didn't bring the money in once the ebay fees had been paid, I'd be in a bit of a mess.

Would I be ending up with a better winch than the Warn too ?

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Would I be ending up with a better winch than the Warn too ?

I've used both an m8000 (ladoga on 45) and an ep9 (the fore runner to the TDS on the the tomcat) they are very good winches if it was me I would say the ep9/TDS has the slight edge due to the brake not being in the drum. The brake began to fail at the end of ladoga on the m8000 (service item an way) both suffered a casing failure due to rope bunching under the tie bars, both were welded up and went on for years. So is the TDS better than the m8000? No. Is it worse? No. Take your pick.

Mike

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It's all a question of how good you want it to look and how functional. For good function all you have to do is get it lined up properly inside so it turns freely and if the rotor and stator get full current it's as good as new :)

If you can keep it sealed it might be better than new?

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